I don’t think suspected drug dealers in a house in Lima, Peru, expected what they were faced with this past weekend before Christmas. But that’s what they get for allegedly being on Santa’s naughty list for Christmas.
Suddenly, Dr. Seuss’ cartoon character, the Grinch, in full costume, with a sledgehammer in his hands, charged up their steps and crashed through their door, leading a force of agents from the Peruvian National Police. They raced in, shouting, “Police!” The people, understandably, looked a bit stunned.
“In an ingenious operation, agents of the Green Squad arrested the aliases La Reina del Sur, La Coneja and Pote, alleged members of the La Mafia de San Bartolo gang, dedicated to drug dealing,” a police post on X states. “Various narcotics were seized.”
The anti-crime unit has the habit of using interesting costumes during their raids. The Grinch went unnoticed outside by the suspects because he was pretending to be part of a Christmas event.
I suspect that in addition to helping deceive the criminals that any surveillance might be going on or a raid about to happen, the costume is probably also helping to conceal the identity of an undercover officer. It’s a common thing in the U.S. for undercover officers to sometimes be masked in such raids so as not to be identified. This is just a more elaborate version of that.
Here, the Grinch handcuffed the suspects — somehow, he managed that, even with his paws. He rummaged through all their stuff, grabbing all the illegal drugs and other items found that were related to illegal activity.
The suspects did not look at all happy as they were lined up against the wall for pictures.
One woman who was wearing a “be grateful” shirt didn’t look like she was going to be grateful for all this. The three suspects were then carted off and placed in police cars.
The Grinch danced in triumph, saying he “hated Christmas and criminals,” and the chief of police, Col. Carlos Lopez Aedo, praised his actions.
READ MORE: Why Would Santa Choose Reindeer? Because They Are Perfect for Pulling Sleighs.
This wasn’t the first time the unit has utilized costumes to try to deceive criminals.
On the eve of Valentine’s Day earlier this year, an undercover policeman in a teddy bear costume showed up at the house of an alleged drug dealer, delivering “a fake love surprise,” as part of an operation in Lima.
Last year, around Christmas, they used Santa Claus and an elf. Then, too, around Halloween last year, they used Freddy Krueger, Jason from the “Friday the 13th” movies, as well as Tiffany Valentine, the “Bride of Chucky” doll from the “Child’s Play” movies to raid alleged drug dealers. They’ve also dressed up as Marvel superheroes.
Here, you can see some of the costumes they’ve utilized in action.
In Peru, a drug trafficking gang didn’t stand a chance against the Grinch: pic.twitter.com/exvhc9Lz8M
— DW News (@dwnews) December 24, 2024
They certainly are up there for the award for most creative disguises.
